Thomas Holland Cooling was a distant cousin twice over - once by marriage and once by blood as both of our maternal lines, through the maternal side) go back to Edward I. His brother came to the US where he married Florence Todd, daughter of George and Annie Winter Todd, and eventually wound up in Iowa near my great grandparents after Florence died. My great grandfather was Annie Winter Todd's brother.
Journaling reads:
These post cards and paintings range in date from 1826-1905 and give us a good idea of where Thomas and Emilie lived and worked. The top left is Blankney Hall in Lincolnshire where they appear on the 1891 census, both in service, she as a nursery maid, he as a footman. In 1892, Mr. Chaplin was forced to sell Blankney and they went with him to Stafford House in London (left middle) until they wed in 1899.
Their marriage certificate shows Thomas as valet to Mr. Chaplin, second in command in
the household. Emilie had no occupation. Her father is listed as a deceased gentleman. He left her a sizeable bequest worth over $24 million in today’s dollars. The images on the right are interior views of Stafford House from an earlier era but not much altered. When they married, the photos far left were made here.
[arrow points to 46-47 Brompton Road, the Stuart Brothers Photography Studio.]
See Full LO for creative process.
